U-Minn backs down on teacher ed plan

The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) is redesigning admissions and the curriculum to focus on “cultural competence.”

. . . The proposal, initiated by the college’s Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group, sought to require each future teacher to accept theories of “white privilege, hegemonic masculinity, heteronormativity, and internalized oppression”; “develop a positive sense of racial/cultural identity”; and “recognize that schools are socially constructed systems that are susceptible to racism … but are also critical sites for social and cultural transformation.” They were to be judged by their scores on the Intercultural Development Inventory, a test of “Intercultural Sensitivity.” In one assignment, they were to reveal a “pervasive stereotype” they personally held and then demonstrate how their experiences had “challenged” it. They also were to be assessed regarding “the extent to which they find intrinsic satisfaction” in being in “culturally diverse situations.”

In response to a letter from FIRE, General Counsel Mark B. Rotenberg promised that “[n]o University policy or practice ever will mandate any particular beliefs, or screen out people with ‘wrong beliefs’ from the University.”

Comments

It’s always nice to know that when you’re busy fighting straw men created by the other side to make your side look ridiculous, there are people on *your* side doing their best to make it look ridiculous.

U-Minn may stop this. They may carry on under another name, as U-Delaware did wrt brainwashing their freshmen.
The actual point is that the big shots at U-Minn ed school think this is a good idea.
What other manifestations of idiocy do they inflict on their students day in and day out?
Gotta be pretty serious.

And as someone who’s committed to an opposition to political correctness, I say “good”.

Beyond an encouragement of some of the less admirable traits of us human beings, like conceit, impatience, arrogance and intolerance, political correctness also encourages the undermining of a system of law by turning the law into an instrument of personal expression.

The law ought not to be so lightly regarded but the rich, spoiled brats who can’t conceive of any higher goal then the satisfaction of their momentary desires are incapable of any longer, more responsible view of their actions.

It’s gratifying to see their excesses curbed and seeing that strengthens my faith that ultimately their demands will be rejected.

As someone who faced two administrative attempts by Stanford’s ed school to be rid of me, the fact that they will back down from the “remediation plan” is a big deal. It will make it more difficult for professors and administrators to create administrative procedures to boot students with the wrong point of view.

However, I haven’t really seen any evidence that UMinn is changing anything.